This is a past event
12 November 2025
Prof. Scott Spurlock (University of Glasgow):
Contested jurisdictions?: two-kingdom theology in early modern Scotland
The 1560 Scots Confession defined God’s Kirk as particular communities in specific places where the Word was rightly preached, sacraments properly administered, and discipline applied—citing Paul's churches in Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, and Scotland's reformed towns. By mid-seventeenth century, Scottish theologians expanded this vision, claiming God made churches of entire nations, viewing all Scotland as one singular church. This paper explores how Scottish ecclesiology shifted from Kirk as counterpart to Commonweal toward a Scottish two-kingdom theology with coterminous constituencies.
Prof. Spurlock is Professor of Scottish and Early Modern Christianities at the University of Glasgow. His work focuses on projects relating to Scottish religious cultures, in particular the Reformation in Scotland and traditions developing out of its upheaval including Catholic, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Dissenting and Quaker; the experience of lay Catholics in early modern Scotland; the role of Reformed theology in shaping early modern cultures; and, the comparative development of Reformed communities in the early modern Atlantic.
- Speaker
- Prof. Scott Spurlock (University of Glasgow)
- Venue
- Taylor A36